Perch Lake School Vital to Town's History

Anyone could argue there are many areas of the Town of Cloverland that could stand out with historical significance, not many would argue that the Perch Lake School holds a special place in history since it was first a public school where the children of Cloverland went to learn to read, write, and do arithmetic. When this job was completed, the Town of Cloverland adopted the building and made it the official Town Hall that was the place for the Town's business for several years.

While it served as the place for learning, many friendships were made within those walls and on its playground area. But once it began serving as the official Town Hall, many more friendships were made at meetings where the public was always welcomed. Despite its lack of indoor plumbing facilities, the building continued to serve the residents of Cloverland until it became time to either remodel it or construct something new to continue to serve the residents for generations to come.

After researching the feasibility of remodeling the former school building and the cost of making the building comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Plan Commission issued a recommendation to construct a new building and offer the Perch Lake School building to the real estate marketplace. Construction on the new Town Hall began in 2006 and was completed by year's end which officially retired the Perch Lake School as the Town Hall in January 2007. Since that time, all Town of Cloverland business, including the elections are held in the new Town Hall which is across the street in the same area as the Recycling Center.

Otter Rapids Bridge: A Structure Gone

After decades of providing transportation access to the Otter Rapids Power Generating facility and to other travelers both local and visitors, the Otter Rapids bridge was removed by the Town Board in 2010 because it had become unsafe for continued use. Testament to its age is the steel side construction that is not common in modern day bridge construction today, but like all things man-made, the bridge was suffering terrible fatigue and its time of use had passed.

Commemorating the structure's existance and importance to the Town for all those years, the Town Board felt it fitting to preserve the structure through photographs to show future residents and guests in Cloverland what the structure stood for all those years when daily use of the bridge included school buses traveling across it bringing the Town's youngsters to and from school each day.

The power plant shown in these photos still operates with turbines generating power from the mighty Wisconsin River that begins here in the northern part of the state and stretches all the way to the Mississippi River on its journey to the Gulf of Mexico.